Making sense (and, sometimes, nonsense) out of Current News, Issues, Politics

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

ISIS in Iraq: Close to Defeat?

Is one of the "I's" (Iraq) in ISIS' name on its way out? Two reports from two U.K. online newspapers seems to say yes. The U.K. DailyMail recently reported that the "leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has admitted defeat in Iraq and ordered militants to either flee or kill themselves in suicide attacks, it has been claimed." In that same article it was reported "UK Defence Minister Michael Fallon said he expected to see ISIS expelled from Iraq's major towns by the end of 2017."Then, there was this recent quote from the Guardian:

"Firas Abi Ali, a senior analyst of terrorism in the Middle East, said
the jihadist group - also known as Islamic State - was being weakened by
American air power and was unlikely to survive as a military force
beyond the next 12 months."

In my opinion, this is big news that I have not seen reported by the media in the U.S.. Yet, the U.K. news outlets seem to have a handle on the story. Is the news being ignored so as to not give Trump any credit for what to be happening in his first year in office?